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37 Bay Area chefs, restaurants named semifinalists for 2013 James Beard Awards

By Jackie Burrell

jburrell@bayareanewsgroup

Posted:
02/20/2013 06:11:24 AM PST

Updated:
03/18/2013 10:46:27 AM PDT

This is awards season -- and we're not talking Oscars. The James Beard Foundation awards honor the best restaurants and chefs in the nation, and they've just unveiled the 2013 semifinalists, a list winnowed down from about 44,000 nominees. The Bay Area and Wine Country are particularly well-represented, with more than three dozen semifinalists from Los Gatos to St. Helena and -- especially -- San Francisco. The semifinalists include:

Best new restaurant: San Francisco's Rich Table and State Bird Provisions. They will be competing against 15 other restaurants for that coveted title.

Outstanding service: Michael Mina and Quince in San Francisco and the Restaurant at Meadowood in St. Helena

Outstanding wine program: A16 and Nopa in San Francisco, Press in St. Helena and Sierra Mar at the Post Ranch Inn at Big Sur

Outstanding wine, spirits or beer professional: Jorg Rupf from Alameda's St. George Spirits; John and Kathe Dyson from Williams Selyem Winery and Duncan Meyers and Nathan Roberts from Arnot-Roberts, both in Healdsburg; and Merry Edwards from Merry Edwards Winery and Ted Lemon from Littorai Wines, both in Sebastopol

Best chef, Western states: San Francisco chefs Matthew Accarrino from SPQR, Nicolaus Balla from Bar Tartine, Chris Cosentino from Incanto, Dominique Crenn from Atelier Crenn, Mourad Lahlou of Aziza, Corey Lee from Benu and Daniel Patterson of Coi. The list also includes Michael Chiarello from Yountville's Bottega and Christopher Kostow from The Restaurant at Meadowood in St. Helena.

The finalists will be announced March 18, and winners will be honored at a gala reception and awards ceremony at New York's Lincoln Center on May 6. For more information, go to www.jamesbeard.org/awards.